Escape review: 3/3-3/10 sailing from Miami

Escape review: 3/3-3/10 sailing from Miami

We haven’t been on NCL for more than a decade, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Our last NCL cruises featured bad food, poor service and abundant norovirus. But more recent reviews seemed to suggest that NCL had improved so we decided to give it a try again.

Also, we normally prefer much smaller ships—the Escape is a behemoth! We booked a mini-suite with the large balcony (cabin 8130) because we figured that we might need to ‘escape’ the press of 4000 other passengers.

Finally, we booked a sailing during March—the beginning of Spring Break season. If you’re not from the USA, Spring Break is when Universities take a week off in the middle of the semester and all the students are released into the wild. The students often look for a warm location to party and drink themselves into temporary oblivion. Most universities choose a week in March for their Break.

So to say that I had my doubts would be understating things. But overall I and my wife had a great time. The staff and crew of the Escape were uniformly excellent—they were attentive and courteous the entire time. I can’t say enough about how impressive it is that they can keep up with 4000+ (often inebriated) passengers. But against all odds the ship was clean, lengthy lines were rare, and smiles were abundant! While there were a couple of issues, it was a wonderful cruise and we even put deposits down for another two NCL cruises.

Specifics:

Cabin 8130: Good layout to the cabin. Plenty of shelf space and a decent closet. Walls were steel so magnet hangers worked well to assist organization. The bed was fairly comfortable to us. There is a USB charging port on each side of the bed, but it has fairly low amperage so don’t expect to rapidly charge your giant Ipad or whatever. The balcony was large and included two chairs, a table, 2 loungers and another small table. The only downside is that most of the balcony was open to upper floors looking down—little privacy and sometimes we would find a bit of trash on the balcony (this would, of course, vary with how slobbish the others above you are—perhaps we were lucky). That same openness meant that there was plenty of sun on the balcony. That may be good or bad for you.

Our cabin steward, Jimmy, was great. He must be a damn ninja though. I would walk out of the room, turn around, and the bed would be made with a towel animal on top. Be careful pirates, the ninjas are at sea now.

Vibe: You have to pay extra for this ($100 US for the week per person), but we found it worthwhile. It is a more private area of the top deck with its own bar and hottub. We spent a lot of time here, and the staff was fantastic. They learned our names and drink preferences quickly, and there was always loungers and umbrellas available. A good choice for anyone cruising during spring break month.

Shows and other entertainment:

The Ropes Course: A lot a fun. I didn’t try it due to a bad knee, but my wife loved it despite being afraid of heights.

After Midnight show: 1920’s style blues and jazz show set in Harlem. Great singers and dancers. Fantastic show all around.

For the Record (Brat Pack show): Very 1980’s recap of about every John Hughes movie theme. Fun, worth seeing, but don’t cry if you miss it.

Levity comedy show: We thought that the individual shows in Headliners by the same guys were better than the big show in the theater, but it was not bad at all. A bit raunchy even for the family hours showings, so maybe not for children under 10 unless you enjoy awkward questions.

Food (non-specialty):

Garden Café (buffet): huge buffet, with lots of people and some lines. I only went there a couple of times and the food was only decent. But there was a crepes station that was delicious, so give that a try for breakfast or a nice dessert.

Manhattan Room (the main dining room): We ate dinner here once. Service was fast and courteous, but I wasn’t really impressed with the food. Nothing terrible, it just didn’t stand out. I don’t even remember what I ordered. But the room is quite pretty. ;)

Taste/Savor: We ate at these numerous times for breakfast and for lunch. Each time the staff was excellent (Kathleen was our waiter most of the times) and the food was good. In particular we liked the potato skins topped with crap salad and the roasted lamb.

O’sheehans: We ate here for breakfast most days, as well as late night snacks and lunches (its 24 hours and open during port days too). The menu is limited but was always tasty and service was usually excellent. Only once was there a delay—we waited about 10 minutes for water, but then several servers were bringing out entire trays of water glasses, so they must have had a minor equipment issue. We really enjoyed the nachos (they would give me extra jalapenos because they saw that I enjoyed them so much) and the chicken wings (try the jerk wings!). They also had prime rib some nights which was rather good. My wife also liked the ‘country breakfast’—the country being England because it comes with beans.

The District Brewhouse: Great beer selection, some appetizers but not much. A good place to hang out. Comfy chairs, a good view, rarely crowded and some decent live music. Our cabin was right down the hall from this place so I spent a good amount of time there just drinking beer(s) and reading a book.

Food (specialty restaurants):

Tepenyaki: A great show and good food. The fried rice was excellent, as were the scallops and shrimp. The steak my wife had was a bit overcooked, but not terribly. They have a drink called (I think) the Shaku-Shaku which has saki and cucumber liquor--it was fantastic and we had, umm, a lot of these. We had a lot of fun. Be ready to sing bad 1980’s songs during your dinner.

Bayamo (with the new ‘Ocean Blue’ menu): Major disappointment, avoid this place. The service was excellent, but the food was really bad. My wife started with a beet salad which would have been merely OK but for the trout roe on top which made it horrible. Why would anyone put trout roe (which has a fishy flavor) on beets? I had lobster bisque, in which they took lump lobster and then poured the bisque on top. The lobster was really overcooked and for some reason they decided to add strips of fried tortilla on top. Really? Stop trying so hard, guys. You’re just messing up good simple foods by making them overly fussy. For an entrée my wife had the black cod, which was OK but not well seasoned. I had the red snapper. It was obnoxiously overcooked and I should have sent it back, but by that point I was just done with this place.

Cagney’s: Basic steak house. Good service, decent food. We both had the ribeye as an entree, which was a bit overcooked from what we ordered (rare and medium rare). Decently seasoned and huge portions. For appetizers, I tried lobster bisque here too and it was much better than at Bayamo, though it could have used more lobster. My wife had the beet and goat cheese Napoleon (yes, we were directly comparing to Bayamo) which was good but needed more beet as the goat cheese was a little over-powering. I also had a crab cake, which was excellent and as good as any I have had (I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay—I know good crabcakes!). They also let us take our desserts back to the cabin because we were too stuffed to enjoy them there.

Moderno: Brazilian style steak house. This was my first experience with this type of steak house, and I loved it. The lamb chops and flank steak were great. So were about 6 other meaty things that I can’t remember the names of. Servers would just keep bringing delicious things and doing their best to get you to eat more. Then they bring you grilled pineapple as a palate cleanser—I would eat that stuff as an entrée. My wife also loved the cheese bread they kept bringing out. As for the drinks, they have a strawberry caipirinha which was great. We had many. There was much rejoicing. And later that night much regretting (2 lbs or so of meat and lots of liquor—poor life choices there).

Food Republic: Great, high quality food, but it was not really to my taste. My wife loved most of the things we ordered (its tapas style, so lots of sharing plates), especially the tuna sashimi ‘pizza’ and the salt and pepper calamari.

Ports:

Really not much info for you here. We knew when booking that we were not very interested in these ports, so we did not arrange for shore excursions in advance. I regret not doing so for the Caymans as some people I spoke with had a great time snorkeling.

Georgetown, Grand Cayman: We had to tender here, and it was rather slow going to get off the ship. Keep this in mind if you have a very early excursion booked. We just wandered a bit around the port area—which was the same touristy crap you see in every other Caribbean cruise ship port. Rather boring, but we were not looking for adventure this trip. Sunny, warm and boring was just fine for me.

Falmouth, Jamaica: A nice little port area (walled garden type) but the area right outside the port is not great and the stuff we found interesting was at least an hour bus ride away. No thanks. But the port area had music, the normal crappy tourist shops, and more than a few interesting characters. Look for the guy weaving grass baskets and hats—he will make you one on the spot. We had fun for a couple of hours, then it was back to the ship (which was docked, yay). Some passengers we spoke to really enjoyed the bobsled excursion, but the drive there and back totaled over 3 hours.

Great Stirrup Cay: Canceled due to a slight northwest breeze ;). Lots of passenger complaining going on about this one, but the captain has to be rather conservative with safety decisions. If the wind may pick up and cause tendering to be problematic, better to just keep sailing on.

Nassau, Bahamas: Not much to say about this one. Docked here (always nice not to have to tender), but excursions were very limited and most were ‘go to Atlantis’ for the day. We poked around (the pirate museum was short and overpriced but fun for what it had) and then went back to the ship to enjoy another lovely (if a bit rainy) ship day.

Appreciate your very well written review.

Excellent format.

Keith

Great review!! We were on the Escape last year and will be going again this weekend. Try Le Bistro next time. We also did Moderno and ate too damn much. The meat just kept coming. Skipping it this time and going to Teppanyaki. I also loved the Brewhouse. Spent many many hours there. Great staff that took really good care of us. Who was the nightly entertainment at the Brewhouse when you were on?

Food (non-specialty):

Taste/Savor: We ate at these numerous times for breakfast and for lunch. Each time the staff was excellent (Kathleen was our waiter most of the times) and the food was good. In particular we liked the potato skins topped with crap salad and the roasted lamb.

You liked the potato skins topped with CRAP? ewwww! :D:D

But seriously, great review. I sailed the Escape last March and loved it.

Great (and funny) review - loved it! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Nice review. It's interesting that you didn't like Bayamo. It seems to be one of the favorites. I think it's the kind of place you get a whole lobster with the crab appetizer. The size of the stone crabs were impressive and should have been much more than the price. Though they served them with cocktail sauce - blasphemy.

One place you would probably have enjoyed is Pincho Tapas. It's right next to Bayamo. We had lunch there one day and it was probably our favorite meal on the ship. It doesn't look the most welcoming, but grab a seat on the Waterfront and enjoy the great small plates.

You mentioned excursions and tendering, it should be noted that if you have an excursion booked with the cruise line, you meet on the ship and they give you priority tendering with your excursion group.

Food (non-specialty):

Taste/Savor: We ate at these numerous times for breakfast and for lunch. Each time the staff was excellent (Kathleen was our waiter most of the times) and the food was good. In particular we liked the potato skins topped with crap salad and the roasted lamb.

 

 

 

You liked the potato skins topped with CRAP? ewwww! :D:D

 

But seriously, great review. I sailed the Escape last March and loved it.

Lol, corrected!

Edit: actually it won't let me correct it now. Huh. Crap salad it is!

We leave Saturday on the same itinerary on the Escape. Hoping to make it to Great Stirrip Cay. We missed it last year on the Epic.

Glad you had a good cruise!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Forums mobile app

Who was the nightly entertainment at the Brewhouse when you were on?

Beau Tahana or Orly depending on the day. Good stuff, but I never want to hear another rendition of 'Piano Man'.

Cannot wait for Sept.!

Thanks for you great review!

I think I'll be camping out at the brew house!!!!!!!

Nice review. It's interesting that you didn't like Bayamo. It seems to be one of the favorites. I think it's the kind of place you get a whole lobster with the crab appetizer. The size of the stone crabs were impressive and should have been much more than the price. Though they served them with cocktail sauce - blasphemy.

 

One place you would probably have enjoyed is Pincho Tapas. It's right next to Bayamo. We had lunch there one day and it was probably our favorite meal on the ship. It doesn't look the most welcoming, but grab a seat on the Waterfront and enjoy the great small plates.

 

You mentioned excursions and tendering, it should be noted that if you have an excursion booked with the cruise line, you meet on the ship and they give you priority tendering with your excursion group.

I was really looking forward towards Bayamo--the new menu just looked perfect for me. That's what made it so very disappointing. Snapper isn't the easiest fish to cook right, I'll admit, but this was just terrible. Good thing there are so many other options on the Escape. I left Bayamo and a bit later had some jerk chicken wings at O'sheehan's. Those were excellent. :D

I kept looking at Pincho Tapas, but never tried it. Next time! There were just so many things to do and try on a ship the size of the Escape that I couldn't fit it in to a 7 day cruise.

Priority tendering really is a bonus of a ship excursion, but in my experience it is outweighed by the downside of traveling with 50-100 other people. I took a snorkeling excursion once (in Barbados?)--there were 4 of us on the boat. Despite the lack of priority tendering, our boat got to the prime snorkeling spot a full hour ahead of the obscenely crowded boat used by the ship-sponsored excursion. :cool: I guess that is a different discussion though!

Excellent Review! I now know what not to order at Bayamo with that new menu. Really loved the old Bayamo, but I'll give it a try for the lobster;)

Cannot wait for Sept.!

 

Thanks for you great review!

 

I think I'll be camping out at the brew house!!!!!!!

I think you will love it. I went into the brewhouse one time and was surprised when no one came to take my order after almost 5 minutes. I knoooow! The nerve of those people! Then I looked around and realized it was actually closed (morning of a port day). They just forgot to lock the side doors. I stayed for about an hour (really comfy seats, ya know?) and read a book before wandering out to obtain my morning margarita at the bar in Vibe.

Have you got pictures of the new Bayamo menu?

Have you got pictures of the new Bayamo menu?

This was accurate for 3/6/2018:

GREAT NEWS (in my opinion)!

 

The menu for Bayamo has been changed as of 2/18/18. It's now basically the Ocean Blue menu

 

 

 

Tom

Thanks for the post. I was looking forward to the old Bayamo menu. I don't see anything on this new menu that I'd be willing to pay for. :-(

In particular we liked the potato skins topped with crap salad and the roasted lamb.

Yum!! I love a good crap salad

Yum!! I love a good crap salad

Well, with increasing competition NCL had to makes cuts somewhere, right? And its just one letter. How bad can it be? ;p

I was really looking forward towards Bayamo--the new menu just looked perfect for me. That's what made it so very disappointing. Snapper isn't the easiest fish to cook right, I'll admit, but this was just terrible. Good thing there are so many other options on the Escape. I left Bayamo and a bit later had some jerk chicken wings at O'sheehan's. Those were excellent. :D

 

I kept looking at Pincho Tapas, but never tried it. Next time! There were just so many things to do and try on a ship the size of the Escape that I couldn't fit it in to a 7 day cruise.

 

 

Priority tendering really is a bonus of a ship excursion, but in my experience it is outweighed by the downside of traveling with 50-100 other people. I took a snorkeling excursion once (in Barbados?)--there were 4 of us on the boat. Despite the lack of priority tendering, our boat got to the prime snorkeling spot a full hour ahead of the obscenely crowded boat used by the ship-sponsored excursion. :cool: I guess that is a different discussion though!

I guess it's also possible it was a miss that day? It happens. If you sail Escape again, you may want to consider Bayamo one more time.

I agree about private tours in general, depending on the port. I was just pointing out that ship sponsored excursions do get priority tendering and that's an important distinction for someone who may not be aware of that.

Thanks for the post. I was looking forward to the old Bayamo menu. I don't see anything on this new menu that I'd be willing to pay for. :-(

Is this restaurant included in the specialty dining plan?

Is this restaurant included in the specialty dining plan?

Yes, with a $15 upcharge on top of the dining plan.

If you are just getting basic dishes, may not be worth it. But if you are getting stone crab and surf and turf, it's really quite a bargain.

Is this restaurant included in the specialty dining plan?

Yes, it is. We did not use it for Bayamo (we had previously booked others for our dining plan before the new Bayamo menu came out), but the maitre d' did ask if we wanted to use our dining plan.

Yes, with a $15 upcharge on top of the dining plan.

 

If you are just getting basic dishes, may not be worth it. But if you are getting stone crab and surf and turf, it's really quite a bargain.

Wow, an upcharge too? The maitre d' didn't mention that to us. Glad I did not use the dining plan then.

Wow, an upcharge too? The maitre d' didn't mention that to us. Glad I did not use the dining plan then.

The general consensus seems to be the restaurant is worth it (current review excluded, but noted)....I'm know I'll be dining there on a 4/7 cruise at least once. Will report back if I see any issues.

Thanks for the post. I was looking forward to the old Bayamo menu. I don't see anything on this new menu that I'd be willing to pay for. :-(

Start with the seafood extravaganza and go from there...I'm in.

And to whomever posted the menu, thanks....